Our Story

Caroline:

I met William for the first time in the summer of 2013. We were both living in Houston for the summer, doing internships downtown. We have mutual friends, and both ended up at El Tiempo one weekend. We sat near each other and had a good conversation - for meeting someone for the very first time - it was so easy to talk to him! My first impression of William was that he was incredibly kind and warm. We exchanged numbers because we thought we could meet up for lunch one day downtown. Life got busy, and we both went back to college for our senior year in August without seeing each other again.

A year and a half went by, and it wasn’t until December of 2014 that we met again. William was working at Goldman Sachs in Houston, and I was in grad school, getting my Master’s in Accounting at Ole Miss. I came back to Houston for Christmas Break, and ended up at Kate Raley’s house one night house to get ready to go to a black-tie gala. As William was a mutual friend of Kate’s, he came over to ride with us and a big group to the event. We sat next to each other in the Uber, and I remember thinking how fun he was to talk to. I thought he was hilarious because he loved rap music so much, and we talked about rappers that we used to enjoy back in our high school days. We danced pretty much all night and had a great time. I was intrigued, but I didn’t really know him! A few days later, we ended up at the same bar, Little Woodrows, and decided to go to Whataburger together before both going our separate ways. Talking over fries and milkshakes, I really started crushing on William, but I knew nothing would come of it, because I was leaving a few days later to go back to Oxford, MS to finish up my Masters.

William:

I remember having a lot fun at Whataburger and thinking that Caroline was the total package – driven, smart, and fun yet caring, sweet and beautiful. I remember thinking that I wish Caroline didn’t have to go back to school but knowing that I wanted to stay in touch and hopefully ask her on a date when she returned!

Fast-forward to late summer 2015, when Caroline finally graduated from Grad school and began work in Houston. I had been excited for her to get back so that I could see her again but was nervous to ask her on a solo date, so I instead tried to invite her to a few group outings to Houston Astros games with mutual friends. I must have not been very smooth, as Caroline went to exactly zero of the initial baseball games that I asked her to. Despite this, I decided I would try one final time to convince Caroline to go on a date with me, which ultimately led to our first dinner at the Glass Wall. I thought we’d probably be at dinner for only an hour, but we ended up talking for close to four hours. All my previous thoughts about Caroline from our Whataburger discussion a few years earlier were only strengthened during our first date – I left dinner thinking that Caroline was truly the total package: beautiful, fun, sweet and smart. After that, I began making it a point to pursue her as hard as possible, asking her to join me for coffee runs in downtown Houston, concerts on the weekend, and sending her flowers on her birthday!  

Caroline:

I had the best time on our first date. William made me feel so comfortable, and was so inquisitive. I remember driving home thinking how genuine he was, and how good a listener he was. A few months into dating, William broke the news that he was going to be moving to Dallas soon, but that he wanted to keep pursuing our relationship. I thought it was sweet that he was committed so early on, and I was excited to see where things would go, so I agreed to long-distance. Before long, we both agreed that it would be best if I moved to Dallas, and a year later, I did.

Best decision ever.

William:

After Caroline moved to Dallas, our relationship continued to flourish despite our busy schedules. It was fun to be able to consistently see Caroline! During this time, I became more and more excited about the idea of marrying Caroline, but one day in particular stands out for when I knew that I couldn’t live without her. I had come over to Caroline’s apartment after a long day of work, only to find her struggling to put together a Christmas tree she was trying to assemble for her living room. There were parts of the tree scattered everywhere, and I could tell how determined she was to assemble the tree. Despite her effort, I sensed that she felt defeated by her lack of progress. I can remember an overwhelming desire in wanting to make sure Caroline knew that I was on her team and that I would do everything in my power to love and support Caroline - not just in that moment, but forever. And the rest is history.

Both:

We cannot wait to marry each other, to chase after Christ together, to go through the ups and downs of life together, and to grow old together.